I don't know you
by Tiffy
Summary: This is just a Cloud's POV of what happens when he first sees Tifa after three years. It's kind of a prelude to Two Roads One Truth.
1. Default Chapter

I would like to visit you for awhile  
Get away and out of this city  
Maybe I shouldn't have called but someone hat to be the first to break  
We can go sit on your back porch   
Relax  
Talk about anything  
It don't matter  
I'll be courageous if you can pretend that you've forgiven me  
  
  
The house has been dull and dark for months on end now. Perhaps it has even years. I haven't been keeping track. There hasn't been much of a need to really. As I looked out the window the same thoughts started to flood my head. 'What can I do?' 'How has the gang been?' 'Did Cid ever quit smoking?' 'Did Barret ever get Marlene off to a good school?' I've been thinking of them all. All though one person has been on my mind constantly.   
  
"Tifa," I said out loud. I haven't heard from her in months. Barret just gave me her new phone number a few days ago. He never had a chance to talk to her, but he caught a small chat with her and was able to grab her phone number. The phone shook violently in my hand as I started to dial the numbers. The phone rang twice before finally being answered.  
  
"Hello?" a small, sweet voice greeted from the other end of the phone.   
  
"Is that you, Tifa?" I asked almost certain that it was.  
  
"Who is this?" she sounded startled.  
  
"It's me, Cloud." I could feel a smile spread across my face at her reaction when she finally knew it was I.  
  
"Cloud...I...I can't really talk right now." Her voice didn't sound the same at all. She sounded scared, as if she wasn't allowed to be talking to anybody or me.   
  
"Wait. Can we meet sometime? I haven't seen you for so long," I pleaded.   
  
"I don't know if I can Cloud. I'm sorry. It's not that I'm trying to avoid you or anything it's just..." I heard her voice being cut off quickly from a male's voice.  
  
"Who's on the phone?" the voice asked.   
  
"It's no one. Just a sales man," Tifa lied quickly. "Cloud, I have got to go now," she reverted her conversation back to me.   
  
"All right Tifa. I guess I'll see you some time, hopefully."   
  
"Yeah, hopefully," Tifa said softly. I didn't have a chance to say good-bye before I heard the receiver be hung up. The question started to build up in my mind as I grabbed a jacket and my boots to make a journey over to her house, even if I wasn't invited.  
  
Because I don't know you anymore  
I don't recognize this place  
The picture frames have changed and so has your name  
We don't talk much anymore   
We keep running from the pain  
But what I wouldn't do to see your face again  
  
I stood at the front door with my hand again shaking violently. 'Why am I so scared right now? It's just Tifa now,' I thought to myself. I shaped my hand into a small fist and moved it to the door and made a small knocking sound. I waited for a few minutes before I heard small footsteps pattering to the door. To my surprise, a small child around the age of three opened the door and looked up at me.   
  
"Mommy!" the child called. I noticed a small blonde tuff of hair on his head and electric blue eyes. 'That kid looks a lot like me,' I thought to myself as I waited for the child's mother to come.   
  
"Zell, how many time do I have to tell you, do not open the door to...strangers," Tifa came from a doorway and stuttered her last word as she noticed her visitor. I gave a flattered smile at her rude greeting.   
  
"Cloud!" I heard her whisper loudly. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I had to see you Tifa. I miss hearing your voice and seeing your smile around," I answered honestly.   
  
"You shouldn't be here Cloud," she said in a flat tone. I knew she really didn't mean it, but obviously something was keeping her from seeing me.  
  
"Why not?" I asked.  
  
"Because Cloud. I'm married and I have a..." Tifa didn't complete her sentence. She simply pointed down to the blonde child staring up at me from my feet. "But Johnny isn't home right now, so I guess you could stay for a little while."   
  
I took Tifa's offer gratefully and walked in her new house. Barret told me that she had been living in Kalm now and after making a few mistakes of which house she could have been living in; I finally made the right choice and found her. A stairway led upstairs to the main bedroom and a smaller bedroom. Downstairs was the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. It truthfully wasn't a large house, but it did seem to be a comfy one.   
  
I saw Tifa heading out the back door onto the patio out back. I followed her and took a seat on one of her white deck chairs. She followed my example and sat down on one of the ones next to me. I watched the small child named Zell come running out of the house and out into the grass to play on his jungle gym. The conversation started out like most others and quickly grew.   
  
Springtime in the city  
Always such a relief from the winter freeze  
The snow was more lonely than cold if you know what I mean  
Everyone's got an agenda  
Don't stop keep your chin up you'll be all right  
Can you believe what a year it's been  
Are you still the same?  
Has your opinion changed?  
  
"I'm telling you, gathering wood starts to get back braking after a while," I wasn't talking about much anymore, basically anything to keep the conversation.  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean. The winter has been tough here too, but I was able to manage." Every once an awhile during our conversation I noticed her pull her jacket closer to her, as if hiding something precious. One of the first things I noticed when I had come in was that her weight seemed to have gone down a lot. She never weighed much before either, but now she seemed as if she was just skin and bones. I didn't want to say anything, so I just kept talking about the past winter.  
  
"I went and visited Red, and he seems to be doing rather good. He says that it does get a little hectic every once and a while but besides that he's doing well. I haven't seen Vincent around lately, have you?" She seemed to start growing quieter, and glance and the front door constantly.   
  
"I've seen him once or twice," she answered while still glancing at the front door.  
  
"I'm going to go get a glass of water. Is that okay?" I asked and watched her eyes meet mine.  
  
"Yeah, that's fine," she said with a smile. It was the first time I had seen her smile in years. I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw that smile. It always did that to me. I raised my body from the chair and walked inside the house and headed into the kitchen.   
  
On my way, I stopped and glanced at a picture. In it, were Tifa, Zell, and Johnny. Tifa had Zell in her arms with Johnny hugging her around the waist. I felt my stomach drop as I picked it off from the counter. 'I was too late,' I thought to myself. 'If only I told you sooner.' I felt a tear slip from my eye and fall onto the glass of the picture.   
  
Because I don't know you anymore  
I don't recognize this place  
The picture frames have changed and so has your name  
We don't talk much anymore  
We keep running from these sentences  
But what I wouldn't do to see your face again  
  
I know I let you down  
Again and again  
I know I never really treated you right  
I've paid the price  
I'm still paying for it everyday  
  
The water from the faucet was ice cold so there was no need to put ice in the glass. I drew the cup up to my mouth and drank the cool water. I took the glass from my mouth and set it down on the counter when I felt two eyes staring at me. The look on Tifa's face almost scared me. She looked like she was about to fall down in tears but for no reason at all. She looked scared, frightened like a small child lost from its mother.   
  
"I think you'd better go before Johnny comes back. He doesn't like visitors," Tifa said in a low voice.  
  
"But I'm a friend though."  
  
"I know. I know. But still, he never got a long with you when we were younger, remember?" I started to have a small flashback from when Johnny and me were constantly in a scuffle. I shook off the thoughts and nodded to Tifa. I was too late though. A loud knock came from the front door that startled us both.   
  
"Tifa! Why the hell is the door locked?" Johnny asked from the front door.   
  
"Cloud, you've gotta go!" Tifa whispered loudly and walked over to me. "Cloud, you don't understand, you have got to leave." I saw tears start to streak down her face as she grabbed my arm and brought me to the back door.   
  
"Tifa, why are you so scared?" I asked before leaving the patio.   
  
"It's nothing Cloud. Look, I'll call you whenever I can, okay?" Tifa pleaded with her words and her eyes. The knocking became even louder and obscene words could be heard around the whole neighborhood.   
  
So maybe I shouldn't have called  
Was it too soon to tell?  
Oh what the hell  
It doesn't really matter  
How do you redefine something that never really had a name?  
Has your opinion changed?  
  
I hopped the back fence and watched Tifa walk back into the house. I didn't know her fate then, if I had things would have been a lot different then and there. I could have helped her a lot sooner, but I don't blame her for not speaking up then. She was scared and didn't know what to do. I probably wouldn't have known what to do either.   
  
Home was the only thing I could do now. The walk home would be long, but it could be done. I was lucky enough to have hitched a ride before, but I wouldn't be that lucky this time. Midgar was a long ways away, but that would be time for me to think. To think about what happened today, and to think about my future.   
  
My future with Tifa was ruined. I was too late to tell her the truth and now I was going to pay for it. She had a family now consisting of a husband and a small child. Even if she did get married to Johnny, I should still be happy for her. Something wasn't right back at the house, but it was something that only time could tell. It was her call when she was going to call for help. But for now, I'm just going home and am going to take care of my problems at hand.  
  
Because I don't know you anymore  
I don't recognize this place  
The picture frames have changes and so has you name  
We don't talk much anymore  
We keep running for the pain  
But what I wouldn't do to see your face again  
  
  
  
  
Author's Note: As you all know, I don't own any of the characters from FF7, and I definitely don't own the song. The song is from Savage Garden's new CD and it is a very good song if anybody wants to listen to it sometime. Well, I should have the last part to this up soon because the last part of it is going to be from Tifa's view of what happened after Cloud left and her thoughts of the situation. Anyways, I wanted to try the chaptering thingy dingy, Heh Heh! ~_^  



	2. Two Bed and a Coffee Machine

~And she takes another step slowly she opens the door  
Check that he is sleeping and pick up all the broken glass and furniture of the floor  
Been up half the night screaming now it's time to get away  
Pack up all the kids in the car  
Another bruise to try and hide  
Another alibi to write~  
  
  
Why did you come here Cloud? I sighed deeply as I walked over to the door and placed my hand on the cold lock. I could already feel the pain that was going to come from him, but that was my fate at the moment. Thank God Zell is asleep right now. I would hate to see what happens to his father at night.   
  
The lock unfastened and I felt the door ram up into me. I fell back against the wall and felt my head whiplash onto the wall. I didn't have time to regain myself before I felt a hand around my neck.   
  
"I heard somebody talking. Who was it?" The stern voice of Johnny would scare just about anybody. He had certainly gained a lot of strength over the past years and I had definitely lost mine. I was a fool to ever trust him. That's the price I must pay now.   
  
"There was nobody here. I was...talking to Zell," it was hard to lie to such a demanding man. I felt the grip tighten around my throat before he released me.   
  
"You are such a bitch Tifa! You can't even tell me the truth anymore," I heard Johnny complain as he walked into the kitchen.   
  
"There seriously was nobody here, Johnny," I protested as I followed. That was a mistake that I would pay for.   
  
"Nobody here? Nobody here?! Then how do you explain the foot prints at the front door?!" His angry voice made me want to just shrivel in fear. I heard him pick up a glass bottle and throw it against the wall next to me. A shard of glass cascaded off of the wall and flew against my face. I felt the cut go across my cheek but didn't think much of it.   
  
"I swear Tifa, all I want is for you to love me," Johnny pleaded. I watched him proceed towards me and lean down into a kiss. I turned my head to the side as a sign that I did not want anything to do with him, or his alcoholic breath.   
  
"Fine. If that's how you want to play, then that's how I'll play." I felt his hand slap me across the face. He turned away from me and walked up the stairs. I was assuming that the previous incident was too much for him to handle, so he went to sleep.   
  
"Bastard," I whispered under my breath. I heard the door close and a few stomps of anger before the bed squeaked from his weight. I bent down to the broken glass on the floor and started to pick it up. I placed the larger pieces of the beer bottle into my hand and stood up. The trashcan was on the other side of the room and I wandered over to it. I dropped the pieced of trash inside it and grabbed the broom standing next to it. The small dust collector was on the counter, which I took with my empty hand.  
  
The glass was easy to clean up and was done in a few minutes. I knew he was already knocked out from one too many drinks and I proceeded upstairs to grab Zell.   
  
~Another ditch in the road you keep moving  
Another stop sign you keep moving on  
And the years go by so fast  
Wonder how I ever made it through~  
  
  
I took the child the sleeping child gently in my arms. His right thumb was placed in his mouth like any other uncomfortable child.   
  
"I'm so sorry that you must live through this," I whispered to Zell. His blonde hair looked so much like Cloud's that many times I wondered if it wasn't his child. I felt him snuggle up to my warmth as I held him close to me. I took the blanket that he was curled up in a few minutes ago and draped it across him.   
  
When he was secure in my arms I exited his room and glanced at the door where Johnny was asleep. I heard loud snoring from inside and knew he had out drunk himself again. I continued my way down the stairs and to the front door. The keys were placed on a small desk in front of the door which I took in my hand and opened the door.   
  
I placed Zell in the back seat in his car seat and buckled him up safely. Truthfully, I had nowhere to go, and if I did, I wouldn't know if to go there or not. My mind was such a scramble that I could barely tell which was my left and which was my right.   
  
After securing Zell in his seat, I opened the front door and sat in the driver's seat. I placed the keys in the car and turned the engine on. I turned to look out the back window and guide myself out of the driveway and onto the highway.   
  
~And there are children to think of baby's sleeping in the back seat  
Wonder how they'll make it through this living nightmare but the mind is an amazing thing  
Full of candy dreams and new toys and another cheap hotel  
Two beds and a coffee machine  
But there are groceries to buy  
And she knows she'll have to go home~  
  
I drove for about an hour until I reached a small inn that looked suitable enough to stay for the night. The dried up blood from the glass cut made my face seem to stick together, even though my tears were almost enough to moisten it out again. I sat in the car with my eyes for a few minutes before being interrupted by a tapping at the window. I turned my head to see who was disturbing my peace. I noticed two familiar red eyes and the jet-black hair. I rolled down my window to greet him kindly.  
  
"Hey Vincent," I tried to smile to him.   
  
"You don't need to force a smile Tifa," Vincent confessed. I could tell that my tears were very noticeable. 'How much was I crying?' I asked myself.   
  
"Come on, I'm staying in a room if you would like to stay."  
  
"That'd be great," I answered and my hand found its way to the handle. I pulled it open and proceeded to the back door to grab my son. Zell was sound asleep in the car seat dreaming of happier days, hopefully. I unbuckled the belt that tied him to the seat and pulled him out.   
  
"This way. I will also clean up that cut for you," Vincent explained before walking down the sidewalk to the room door number 315. I watched him unlock the door and disappear into the darkness in the room. I followed close behind and squinted my eyes when he flipped on the light.   
  
~Another ditch in the road you keep moving  
Another stop sign you keep moving on  
And the years go by so fast  
Wonder how I ever made it through~  
  
I was sitting on a chair in the kitchen as Vincent put a wet rag across the cut on my face to clean off the blood. After he cleaned the dry blood, a small drop still oozed out and down my face.  
  
"How did you get this cut?" Vincent asked curiously.  
  
"Shattered glass," I said bluntly. I felt a shooting pain run through my head as I placed my hand on the back of my head. I felt a sticky feeling in my hair and quickly put my hand out in front of me. My hand was covered in blood from a cut I must've received from the wall. "Great," I mumbled to myself.  
  
"Do not worry about it Tifa. I will get it in a second. Let me finish this one up first," Vincent tried to calm me down. I nodded in agreement as he placed a clean cloth up on my cheek.   
  
"Hold that there," Vincent ordered as he turned back to the table and grabbed a large enough bandage to go around my head. I noticed him go to the back of the chair and try to find the cut on my head behind all of my hair. He found it rather quickly and poured a glass of warm water over it to wash away the blood. The back of my head was now drenched, but I didn't care. I felt him tie the bandage around my head and fastened it.   
  
"Thank you Vincent. If there is anything I can do to repay you..."  
  
"Don't worry about it. Right now you need to just look after yourself," Vincent said quietly. "How long are you going to stay?"   
  
"Not that long. Just the night probably and then I'll leave. Hopefully Johnny doesn't notice me gone," I said sadly.  
  
"I'm going back to Nibelheim tomorrow, so if you ever need me you will know where I will be."  
  
"I think it would be rather difficult for me to get all the way over there, but thank you anyways. I'll find a way out of this mess," the sadness in my voice intensified as I continued the conversation.  
  
"Go on to sleep. I'll make sure to wait until you leave before I pack up," Vincent offered and pointed over to one of the beds. I nodded in agreement and headed over to one of the beds where I found sleep quickly.  
  
~Another bruise to try and hide  
Another alibi to write  
Another lonely highway in the black of night  
But there's hope in the darkness and you know you're going to make it~  
  
The morning came quickly and I found myself back out on the road. I felt a tear splatter on my arm as I turned into Kalm. I held my chin up high knowing that even though I was suffering right now, someday my life would be better.   
  
"Mommy?" a small tired voice called from the back. "Are we going home?"  
  
"Yes we are," I said reluctantly.   
  
"I don't want to go home," Zell answered with a still tired but more of a complaining tone.   
  
"You don't. Why not?"  
  
"I don't want to see daddy. I want to go to the park." His voice was so young and innocent and he really didn't need to hear the foul language and arguments of his father and me.   
  
"All right. I think we can make a stop to the park on our way home." A smile spread across Zell's face as he looked out the window and watched the trees and light poles go by. His eyes darted from one to the other quickly trying to keep track of the passing world.   
  
"Mommy?" Zell broke the silence.  
  
"Yes dear?" I looked at the rear view mirror and looked at watched him look out the window. 'His eyes are so blue. An electric blue that pierces through your soul,' I thought to myself. 'Just like Cloud's.'   
  
"Can I get some ice cream?"   
  
"Ice cream for breakfast?" The request sounded odd, but after last night's events I didn't mind much.   
  
"Yeah!" he replied in a jumpy voice. His whole body wriggled with energy that he built up from sleeping through the night.   
  
"Okay! I could go for some ice cream right now anyways." I smiled to my son through the rear view mirror. Through the hardest times in life, there will always be something there to keep you going, even if it is the smallest thing. I will never give up.  
  
~Another ditch in the road you keep moving   
Another stop sign you keep moving on  
And the years go by so fast  
Selling fortress built to last  
Wonder how I ever made it~  
  
  
Author's Note: Interesting, eh? Well, I was planning on finishing this sooner, but then the dreadful happened!! I spilled...my cherry soda...on my lap!! Okay okay, I know it's a lame excuse but it took me 20 minutes to clean it up! When you're wearing shorts and then you have that sticky, wet feeling all over your legs and when you try to wipe it off you can't find your other pair of shorts so you're searching around your room for 20 minutes. Then, after you do find your shorts and change into them, you forget about the mess you left on your desk. So you go looking for a rag but the only one you find is the dirty, grimy one that your dad used to clean his oily hands. By now, the desk where all your masterpieces of art and literature are done is soaked with a sticky, wet, oily, grimy, dirty substance that you have no way to get rid of unless you beg your parents for 2 hours to go down to the store because you finally convinced them to get paper towels so you wouldn't have to waste two hours and twenty minutes just to finish up the last paragraphs of you story!!!! ~out of breath~  
  
There's my ramble and excuse. Well, I hope you enjoyed my two chapters of POV from Cloud and Tifa. Just to tell you, both of the songs were by Savage Garden. If you have ever heard of "Two Beds and a Coffee Machine" you would know where I got the idea of Johnny. I thought that was a beautiful song considering it almost made me cry. ~Sniffle~ All right, I'm working on my last part to the Two Roads One Truth series (maybe...actually not maybe...there is one last one that I have to do! ~gleam~) But bare with me for a little while longer if you're enjoying these. Oh! And the parts that have these little things ~ ~ are the song parts. I noticed that my other one was hard to read so I decided to try and make it a little easier. Thanksa!!  



End file.
